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soon as we get a cast on Mr. Garcia, I'll be right there."
    Honor noticed that Quinn had dark circles under her eyes, and for the first time, she realized that the young surgeon looked exhausted. She knew that Quinn had been working hard—they all worked pretty much nonstop for twelve to fourteen hours—but it hardly seemed likely that the demands of the ER would be that much different than what Quinn had experienced as a surgeon. Once again sensing something amiss, Honor felt a surge of concern. "Take your time."
    Ten minutes later, Quinn leaned with a palm against the wall and studied the film, which had been hung on the light box, of the young man with the possible jaw fracture.
    "What do you think?" Honor asked as she walked up beside her.
    "He doesn't seem to be very tender on physical exam, and his bite looks okay. His teeth come together perfectly," Quinn observed.
    "I know. That's what bothers me. The mechanism of injury is right for a jaw fracture, but his physical findings are unimpressive, to say the least. But then, the x-ray
is
suggestive." Honor leaned forward as well, her shoulder brushing Quinn's as she stared at the x-ray. She reached out to trace a faint line between two of the lower teeth. "Looks like a fracture right there. Maybe it's an old inj—"
    "Honor, I'm sorry to interrupt," Linda said with an uncharacteristic hint of urgency in her voice. "Robin just called from the car. It doesn't sound serious, but there's been an accident."
    "Oh my God." Honor's face lost all its color, and for an instant, she swayed.
There s been an accident. We 're sorry to have to tell you...
    Quinn felt Honor tremble, saw the panic in her eyes, and without thinking, rested her hand against Honor's back, supporting her gently. She made small circles with her fingertips, unconsciously hoping to soothe her. She wasn't entirely certain what was happening, but Honor's terror was clear. And seeing her suffer made Quinn ache.
    "Honor," Linda said sharply, placing both hands on her friend's shoulders. "She's okay. Robin says she's
okay.
They'll be here in just a minute."
    Without even realizing it, Honor leaned into the warmth of Quinn's body, needing something solid to anchor her while she fought the memories and struggled to stay in the present. Heart pounding, her voice tight with fear, she asked, "What happened?"
    "I'm not sure. Something about one ball and two heads."
    "Is she conscious? Is she talking?" Honor tried to think clearly, but she knew her words were rushing together as fear threatened to overwhelm her.
There's been an accident...
    "I don't have the details. I just got a thirty-second phone call." Linda shook her head in frustration. "But the most important thing is that Robin said it—"
    Honor jerked away from Linda's grasp and ran toward the emergency room entrance. Quinn looked after her and saw a muscular woman in a bloodstained T-shirt and gym shorts carrying a softly crying blond child in her arms. The child's face and neck were streaked with blood, and a white gauze pad was taped over part of her forehead and left eye.
    "Who is that?" Quinn asked, walking rapidly to keep up with Linda.
    "Honor's daughter."

    Chapter Four
    T he instant Honor saw the blond head turn toward her and the tremulous smile of recognition on her daughter's face, her panic began to ebb.
She's awake and alert, no head injury. Oh, thank God.
Despite the fact that her stomach still churned with anxiety laced with the aftermath of old terrors, she smiled and kept her voice level and steady as she reached for her child. "Hi, sweetie. Come here and let me hold you a while. Aunt Robin probably needs a rest."
    "I can walk," the blond child said fretfully, but she extended her arms to Honor nonetheless.
    "I know you can, but I want to give you a hug first."
    Carefully, Robin passed the child to Honor, who hitched her daughter onto her hip as if she were two instead of nearly eight. Even as she did so, she searched the one eye she could see